Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Psychopaths, sometimes erroneously called sociopaths, are hard to
identify, but, oh, my what interesting characters to write. Their smaller
pre-frontal cortexes, regulating impulse-control and behaviors, means this is a
condition not just “bad choices by bad people”. The sociopath and psychopath
are victims of something they cannot control.

However, the general thinking is that psychopaths are born that way
and that sociopaths are created out of extreme childhood circumstances and
violence, sometimes even head injuries. The old nurture-nature argument
surfaces.

Sociopaths tend to be reserved, inhibited and sometimes described at
loners, whereas, psychopaths are confident, dominant, and even social. Whereas
we might call psychopaths amoral, sociopaths do have a sense of right and wrong
and might be martyrs or crusaders for causes that are skewed against normalcy.

As to sex difference, three times more men than women are diagnosed
as sociopaths or psychopaths. Identified women, much more often than men,
reported sexual abuse, parental issues like substance abuse, or emotional
neglect as children.

WebMD distinguishes between sociopaths and psychopaths, those who are
clinically diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder, as whether or not a
conscience is operating.

The psychopath doesn’t have a conscience. The sociopath has a
conscience, but it is a weak one. The psychopath has no qualms or regrets about
shis behaviors or actions. The sociopath displays some guilt or remorse, but
not enough to keep shim from the behavior. Self-centered and guiltless, they
take actions fearlessly since they don’t accept personal responsibility for consequences
for actions.

It is also pointed out that the majority of those with an antisocial
personality disorder are not violent. The ones who make the news are, but
thousands are walking around, living their lives without attracting legal
attention. But for our books, we mostly make psychopaths or sociopaths our
villain and perpetrator of violence. But it could be an interesting novel in
which the sociopath next door is presumed guilty but somebody else “done the
deed.”

I have a sociopath (although I leave it open to interpretation whether
Cal is actually a psychopath) in my “Dinner is Served” series (first book Mission Impastable). Keeping him ambiguous is
one way I have built tension in his relationships with others. Are they genuine
or not? Is he capable of having a loving relationship with anyone?

researchers found that individuals scoring higher on an emotional
detachment/disagreeable personality factor did not respond to yawning stimuli.
You know what I mean. Someone yawns and then you do. It’s a sympathetic
response. If one lacked empathy and sympathy traits, then that person did not
respond with yawning.

Now think about that in a novel. A character could be unmasked as a
psychopath by a clever sleuth. Or, your villain might know that non-yawning
response is a characteristic and, thus, heesh tries to conceal it with a fake
yawn, also detected by your clever sleuth.

Another study in Personality
and Individual Differencesfound that narcissism and psychopathy traits predicted social media
use. The more selfies men posted, the higher they ranked on the scale. Of course,
taking selfies alone is not a predictor, but you could certainly have your
villain obsessed with documenting shis life with selfies, Vine videos and the
like, constantly documenting shis life on Facebook.

Interestingly, another study found a higher number of antisocial disorder personality people with
a preference for bitter foods and drinks than the normal population. Maybe your
villain likes shis coffee strong and black. Like me! Bwahaha!

Sociopaths and psychopaths are skilled actors. Manipulators who must
win, who must dominate. I’d guess a good number, if not all, bullies could be
diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder. Try these tips and traits to
beef up your antisocial villain.

If you enjoyed this post, I
would appreciate you sharing it on Twitter and/or Facebook.

Tweet: #Writers: Have a
psychopath/sociopath in a novel? How are they different & alike?
@RomanceRighter tells all http://bit.ly/1OLY0Cy

Facebook: Writers who
are writing characters with an antisocial personality disorder might pick up
some ideas of how to do it right in this post by Angelica French Author.